~ The life of Katharine Susannah Prichard, the art of biography, and other things

My Favourite Novels In 2010

This list does not include the big pile of novels I discarded. So all of these had some merit, or I wouldn’t have finished them.

1. Gilead – MarilynneRobinson (2004), USA
It got even better this second time I read it, a novel which embodies grace and what it means to be alive. 10/10

2. Freedom – JonathanFranzen (2010), USA
It is a deeply perceptive novel. Franzen is smart and cynical, but he knows how to break my heart and then patch it up again with hope. He knows our inner worlds, and he also knows the outer political worlds. He seems to know everything. 10/10

5. Journey Through Space – TobyLitt (2009) USA
A ship travelling to the nearest habitable planet at 1/10th light speed, taking generations to get there – what an amazing concept. Litt covers the span well and the civilisation of the ship comes to symbolize the behaviour of humanity broadly. It is bleak and sad, but also fascinating and compelling. 9/10

7. On Beauty – ZadieSmith, (2005), Brit
An engrossing drama-comedy set around a university. She perceives the young and old well, it seems to me. 8/10

8. Rabbit at rest – JohnUpdike (1990) USA,
It was a perfect book last time I read it; what changed? 8/10

9. Howards End – E.M. Forster (1910) Brit, 8/10

10. The Final Solution [audiobook] – MichaelChabon (2002)Delightful, wise descriptions of life are what this novella are about, rather than the detective story. Missed crucial aspects listening on tape – like the fact the ‘old man’ is, of course, Sherlock Holmes! 8/10

11. The Bell Jar [audiobook] – SylviaPlath (1962) USA, 8/10

12. Solar – IanMcEwan (2010) Brit, 7.5/10

13. Unless – CarolShields (2003) Canada, 7/10

14. Oranges are not the only fruit – JeannetteWinterston (1985), Brit, 7/10

15. The Reincarnation of Peter Proud – MaxEhrlich USA (1974)
There is a satisfying narrative symmetry to The Reincarnation. It begins with Peter Proud’s recurring dream from his previous life of being drowned in a lake at night by a woman named Marcia, and it ends with this same woman drowning Peter in his current life. The plot is well structured. Peter Proud has disturbing, recurring dreams of his past life. He seeks answers from a sleep researcher, a clairvoyant and a ‘psi-researcher’ in order to recover his past. But the break-through comes when he sees footage on television from the town where used to live, and eventually tracks it down. Once he’s discovered who he was, he has two tasks to juggle: he finds his daughter and wife (Marcia) from his previous life and learns as much information he can from them; and he re-enacts each of the recurring dreams, as the re-enactment has some sort of psychological healing effect on him – it stops coming back. 7/10